Moulin Rouge: The forgotten stories
by Captain Howdy
Summary: The stories of the forgotten chracters of Moulin Rouge:2 new chapters up! Nin and Chocolat
1. Music

Disclaimer: This doesn't belong to me.  
  
(BTW, Satie is the bohemian in glasses who writes the music and conducts)  
  
Inspiration comes from the strangest places. I watched Tolouse and my Argentinean friend dance with the girls from the Moulin Rouge; my mind was transported to India. I saw Satine singing a tune and I had to write it down. My favorite song by Satine was Diamonds are a girl's best friend, so I took the words and twisted the tune round to some thing more 'oriental'.  
  
But inspiration can come from more usual places too. I watched Satine and Christian talking one day, and I wrote a tune, a tune of true love, joy and happiness, which became 'Come what may'. Watching the expressions on their faces as they sung it was one of the happiest times of my life. But then I lost two of my dearest friends. Satine, to the consumption and Christian to depression.  
  
My heart broke when I saw Satine die in Christian's arms. I thank the lord Satine will never know how much damage she did to Christian's heart and soul. He is a shell of the man I once knew and admired, who gave life to my music through his lyrics.  
  
There was also damage to the Moulin rouge, too. Again it is the whorehouse, the dance hall, the place where the rich and powerful come to play with the young and beautiful creatures of the night.  
  
But some of the sparkle has gone out the show. There is, and never will be, another Sparkling Diamond.  
  
Even the Can Can seems almost dead. But there's no doubt the Moulin Rouge will survive. Harold Zidler would do what ever was in his power to make sure that the show will go on. Even bind another beautiful girl to the same fate as Satine.  
  
What I am doing now?  
  
I am writing an opera I call "Fall of Aphrodite," it will probably never be famous or successful, for my lyrics will never be as fantastic as Christian's. It is a story about a beautiful goddess who falls in love with a poor man, only for her husband to condemn her lover to eternal hell fire, and make her watch him forever.  
  
That's how I feel watching Christian hurting, and know there's nothing I can do to save him. 


	2. Little princess

The Little Princess. That's my stage name. But there was only one princess at the Moulin Rouge, and that was Satine.  
  
To me, she was almost a goddess. Everything I wanted to be: tall, beautiful and talented.  
  
I told her this one day and she looked at me. I thought I had offended her, but she told me that I was beautiful too.  
  
"How can I be beautiful when I'm like this?" I asked her.  
  
"Princess, you are beautiful. Your height does not change that." She said.  
  
From that day on, I was her companion, her friend, her confidante.  
  
Then it all turned sour.  
  
I remember watching Satine fall, it was like a nightmare. I followed Chocolat backstage, and sighed with relief when she opened her eyes.  
  
But then I saw the cloth Marie was holding, and I was filled with dread.  
  
Consumption. The evil monster that tore Christian's and Satine's love apart.  
  
Looking back, I can see now why Nini was jealous. Why she told the Duke.  
  
Their love was whole and pure, a bitter irony in the place where men pay for love.  
  
Don't get me wrong, I was happy for Satine. But deep in my heart I knew that their love would burn to ashes like a flower tossed upon a grate.  
  
When the Duke changed the ending of Spectacular, I knew there would be no happy ending.  
  
Then watching Nini and the Argentinean dance, I feared for Satine. Could Christian or the Duke be driven to murder? I asked myself.  
  
The one place where I believed everything would be fine, was when Christian and Satine were reunited. I thought this was it, this is the happy ending.  
  
But no. Satine is dead. Christian is beside himself with grief. And the Moulin Rogue has lost its princess. 


	3. Legs in the air

Hah.  
  
Life is hard, he said, and Nini, you'll just have to get used to it.  
  
The words of the infamous Harold Zidler.  
  
So much for Spectacular Spectacular and his million franc dreams.  
  
I remember when he said those words to me. A client had treated me badly, and I came back to him, bruised and sobbing. But life was not hard on Satine. He made sure of that.  
  
Little Miss Diamonds, that was her nickname when Zidler was being particularly nasty about our dancing or similar.  
  
But the only time I ever saw him angry at her was when she was mixed up with that writer man, Christie, or what ever his name was.  
  
Contrary to what many people believe, I was not jealous of Satine. Sure, she had the limelight, but she was a lot softer than the rest of us, thanks to Zidler's preferential treatment.  
  
I bet you're thinking,  
  
"Well that's all very good, Miss Nini Legs-In-The-Air, but why did you tell the duke?"  
  
Why?  
  
Because I had too. What did you think would've come of the rest of us if the duke had found out later? There would have been a nasty scene, I know. And the duke would've had the Moulin Rouge turned into rubble in an instant.  
  
Now Satine's gone, and the Moulin Rouge is back to its old self. I'm almost glad; not that Satine died, but that the whole business is over.  
  
At least the Argentinean agrees with me. He says that their love was doomed from the start. He's not such a bad person, and a very good dancer. But I'm going to be very careful about him. Zidler kicks girls out now if he finds out they've fallen in love with someone. He's been hardened by Satine's death.  
  
But if Satine had been hardened, this might not of happened. 


	4. Chocolat

I run my hands over my dark brown arms. Is the reason that Satine didn't think of me as more than a friend?  
  
But I know in my heart that Satine's true love was Christian, but I don't hate him for it.  
  
Instead, I am secretly glad that Satine's last few minutes were happy. She died in the arms of the man she loved.  
  
I sometimes wonder if Satine is smiling down on us from heaven, a Christian belief which I particularly enjoy the notion of.  
  
You see, I was a third generation slave. Both my grandparents and parents were captured, and I was brought up a catholic my by parent's old master. When he died I took to the streets of Paris, finally finding the Moulin Rouge and earning my name.  
  
Chocolat, for the colour of my skin.  
  
Life after death. I hope that when Christian dies, he goes to see Satine, but it seems he has died already, but is still chained to this earth by flesh and blood.  
  
I like to remember back, when I adored Satine from afar. But there is a dark cloud over those memories.  
  
When Satine fell, it was like my entire world had fallen apart. I leapt forward and caught her, but in my mind's eye I could see her skull smashed on the hard floor, her beautiful red hair clotted with blood. I looked up to Zidler's eyes and he motioned for me to take her backstage, where to my intense relief, she woke up.  
  
But then there is another dark memory; me punching the duke to stop him raping her. For Satine to be degraded that way was to me like smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary. Unthinkable. Blasphemous, even.  
  
So I took her to the only man I thought cared for her (apart fro me.) Christian.  
  
He was going to take her away, and I felt a huge stab of jealousy. I loved her as much as he did, and if she went away, she would belong only to him.  
  
You might think,  
  
"What's the difference between him and the duke?"  
  
But with the duke I knew Satine would never really love him. She would still stay at the Moulin Rouge, and there would be a slight chance she might be able to love me.  
  
But then I remembered what Satine did. She was called a courtesan, but really all she was doing was whoring herself. And Christian would put a stop to that.  
  
And then, the final curtain; Satine's death.  
  
When she died, Christian died. And in a way, I died too. 


End file.
